Its been a busy time in my little workshop, more table leg frames for Mr van den Bosch, another Bubinga coffee table; a recently married couple commissioned it as a wedding present to themselves and finally a pair of table/display stands made using the left over wood from the other two jobs, they are currently on display at the Court House Gallery, Somerton, which is also hosting its annual furniture prize on the 16th July.

Recently completed kitchen refurbishment, new Ash worktops, new oven, sink and tap with two new purpose made cabinets either side of oven and existing pine cabinets painted with Farrow & Ball paint, MDF  V grooved wall panels and new stainless steel splashback.
Pictures, before on the left, after on the right.

Thanks to all the people who came into the gallery and had a chat about my work and watched me cut a few dovetails.

I`ve been making more table leg frames for Alardus Van Den Bosch which he will be displaying at this years Celebration Of Design & Craftsmanship at Cheltenham, the exhibition runs from 16th to the 25th August, its well worth a visit with some exceptional furniture on display. 

A bad craftsman blames his tools, or so the saying goes, but good quality tools certainly help and some can even inspire you to do good work. If you would like to see some of the lovely tools pictured below and meet me, I will be demonstrating hand cut dovetails at the Court House Gallery, Somerton, Somerset, during Somerset Art Weeks September 26th & 27th Friday & Saturday, you can even have a go yourself!

I was asked by Alardus van den Bosch (www.alardus.co.uk) to make a table leg frame to support one of his intarsia table tops, the design is not mine, I had to copy one he already had, I changed it slightly with a hexaganol top fixing block instead of the round disc on the original. I also joined the hexagonal centre block so that the joint was on two corners instead of in the middle, this disguised the joint and made it less conspicuous. 

A recent commision, a coffee table in Bubinga with Hard Maple detailing and Granite inserts. Below are some pictures of the making process.The table was made to replace a similar smaller table which had been destroyed in a fire at the customers house.

Some pictures of the making of a pair of Oak entrance gates, the Mahogany stain was insisted on by the customer!

The SGC held a competition which all of its members were invited to enter called Best of the Best, eighteen members including myself entered. Visitors to the Somer Saet exhibition at the Court House Gallery were asked to vote for their favourite piece, the five with the most votes would then go on to the final. The winner would be chosen at the Guilds 80th Birthday celebrations on Saturday 26th October by Joanna Foster CBE Chair of the Crafts Council, with a second prize to the piece with the most public votes. I did a little bit of research before attending the prize giving, Joanna`s craft passions are ceramics and textiles, each of these were represented in the finalists work so I didn`t think I stood a chance, the quality of all the finalists work was top notch.
I am very pleased to say my piece, an Ash and Walnut side table was the choice of Joanna Foster, I won first prize of £500.00.
Joanna said she was immediately drawn to the simplicity and clean lines of the Side Table. 
Will Shakspeare a glass artist won the public vote and a prize of £300.00. 

This table may look quite simple, it was my final exam piece at Bridgwater college and turned out to be one of the most complex pieces I have made to date. In solid Walnut with a book matched Cherry veneered top.

The joints are mitred bridle joints, the problem with this joint is, you only have to cut the mitre slightly "out" and the legs will either splay in or out by an exaggerated amount and at the same time you have to make sure the tenon part of the joint fits nicely in the bridle (mortise) part. I got it right in the end and gained a City & Guilds distinction, it also took pride of place at the college exhibition.